


Relationships and hardships

by Kr1411, Multi_FandomWeirdo16



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Flash AU, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-16 21:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13062195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kr1411/pseuds/Kr1411, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multi_FandomWeirdo16/pseuds/Multi_FandomWeirdo16
Summary: Barry Allen is a High school student at central high. He goes there with his best friends Cisco and Caitlin. But... He has a problem. His controlling and abusive boyfriend, Hunter Zoloman is causing problems for him. Especially when a certain blonde Queen comes to town.OrThe high school AU no one wanted or cared for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was not as long as I wanted it to be but it will do for now. I hope you guys enjoy this!

“Hurry up!” An angry voice snarled quietly as a painfully strong hand jerked a thin wrist forwards, eliciting a yelp from the wrists’ owner.

“S-Sorry…” A quiet voice apologized as he stumbled over his long legs and tried to walk at a faster pace.

The quiet voice belonged to none other than Barry Allen, junior at Central City High School. The other voice belonged to Hunter Zolomon, captain of the wrestling team, quarterback for the football team and Barry’s boyfriend.  Currently, the two were heading to lunch but only Hunter would be eating. He doesn’t let Barry eat because he says he’ll ‘get fat and I am _not_ dating a fat dude.’

Barry will also be paying for both lunches which he will not be getting any of.

 

They get the food and sit down at the table in the middle of the cafeteria. Barry’s tried to tell Hunter that he’s uncomfortable there and prefers to sit somewhere more quiet and Hunter just ignores him and tells him to quit complaining.

Barry just sits beside his boyfriend, staying quiet and staring at his lap as his boyfriend and his friends crack up and eat.

 

“So I hear there’s a bunch of new kids this year?” One of the guys, Eobard Thawne asks, his name is Eobard but he has everyone call him either Harrison or Harry.

“Yeah, all transfers from Starling High school.” Another one says. His name was Leonard Snart.  Len, for short. He had his friend Mick and his sister Lisa sitting at the table with them. Lisa was the captain of the cheerleading team.

“I heard it was those rich kids, the Queens and a couple of their friends that transfered.”

This caught Barry’s interest. The Queens’? Why were they transfering to a public highschool like Central?

Barry had always had a secret crush on Oliver Queen, but really, what girl or boy didn’t? Everyone with eyes tried to get into that boys pants.

 

Suddenly, a painful grip on his thigh got his attention and he looked at his boyfriend.

“You find something interesting or are you that stupid you don’t know how to listen?” Hunter growled. Barry was confused for a minute but then realized he must of had his head up and looking at his friends as he listened to the conversation. “I um...s-sorry…” He squeaked quietly as he lowered his head again. He didn’t have to look to see the pleased smirk on his boyfriends face. Hunter slapped Barry’s ass and chuckled “Gotta get them to listen. Let em’ know who’s boss!” He said huffing like an ape as he hit his chest, much like an ape did to claim dominance. The rest of the table laughed and then went back to talk about random things, what play the football team was working on, what hockey team was better and who was hotter. Even his boyfriend was in on that conversation. He was naming other people though, not even mentioning or hinting at Barry. Barry was use to the treatment by now. It hurt but he didn’t really have a choice. This benefited him sometimes. He wasn’t bullied as much by the jocks and he was semi popular, only by association but it was still popularity regardless. Plus he wasn’t alone. He had a boyfriend so no one could say anything.

 

Once lunch was over, Barry gave his boyfriend a kiss goodbye before he headed to his class. His boyfriend of course deepened the kiss in a bruising manner and pinned Barry between him and the wall.

It took Barry two minutes of trying to get the other off of him so he could go to class, he didn’t move until Barry reminded him that his coach said he would bench him if he was late again. So he ran off to get to gym and Barry walked to his next class, Science. It was one of his favorite classes. Two of his best friends were in that class with him and it was one of his best classes. Plus, it was one of the rare times where he got to act like himself and didn’t have to guard himself from his controlling boyfriend.

 

He walked down the hall and managed to make it into the class just before the bell rang.

He walked towards his desk and his teacher, Mr. Singh, smirked as his favorite student walked in. “Good job Allen, you managed to not be late this afternoon, keep this up and you man not have to stay after anymore this week.” He joked before moving to the board and beginning his lesson.

Barry blushed but sat in his seat that was at the back of the class. He looked on with the lesson until he saw a paper get thrown onto his desk, he looked at it and then looked around to see his friend, Cisco, pointing at his own desk and mouthing ‘Open it!’.

Barry rolled his eyes and chuckled as he grabbed the paper and begins to open the folded paper. After a minute or so, he got the paper unfolded and began to read the messy handwriting of his friend.

 

‘ _Dude, did you do the homework for mrs. Diggle’s class?’_

 

Chuckling softly and writing an answer, he folded the paper  back up and waited for the teacher to turn around before tossing the note back to his friend.

 

A few minutes later, he got the paper back.

 

‘ _Dude, did you do the homework for mrs. Diggle’s class?’_

 

_‘Yeah, and let me guess, you forgot cause you were working on something for robotics and engineers for Mr.Wells and forgot to do it and need my paper?’_

 

_‘Yes please.’_

 

Chuckling, he shook his head but looked to his friend who was doing an over exaggerated ‘puppy dog eyes’ face and he just nodded, rolling his eyes, gaining an excited face and a mouthed ‘thank you!’.

 

Barry turned back to the lesson when yet another interruption happened. Only this was to the whole class and not just between Barry and Cisco. The door had opened and there stood Oliver Queen. Barry’s mouth dropped open a little as the rest of the class looked up. Oliver stood as the teacher addressed him. “Ah, Mr. Queen, you can sit right over there and follow off of Mr.Allen until you’re caught up with the lesson.” He said, pointing over to where Barry was sitting.

Barry felt the air leave his chest.

_‘No, this isn’t happening. This. isn’t. Happening. Oliver Queen is not going to sit next to me. He isn’t going to co- and he’s sitting there! Oh god what do I do? Do I offer my notes or-’_

“-ello?” Barry was dragged out of his thoughts and turned his head to see Oliver looking at him. Barry looked around and saw a few other people glancing at him. He was trying to hide his face which was probably a bright red color. He looked back to Oliver and said nothing as he showed him his notes that Oliver read silently. Barry’s heart was beating way to fast as he looked to the board, occasionally jotting down his own version of notes which were shortened or simplified to where he could understand them. He occasionally glanced down at Oliver. He was thinking of talking to him but then he remembered that Harry was in this class. He would tell Hunter and Hunter was always so jealous. He barely tolerated Cisco and that was only because Cisco dated a girl named Gypsy.

 

He kept his eyes down on the paper not looking at Oliver, despite how much he wanted to. He peaked up and saw Harry looking at him, he then turned his eyes back to the front of the room. Quietly answering any questions Oliver asked.

 

Thankfully, the bell rung and everyone packed up to head to their next period which was free period. Barry silently packed up his notebooks and zipped his bag, slinging it over his shoulders as he waited for Cisco. Unfortunately Oliver was also still trying to pack up his stuff and the two bumped into each other, causing Barry to drop a couple notebooks.

 

“Oh, sorry about that, let me help you.” Oliver said as he knelt down. Barry began to panic a little and shook his head. “N-No, It’s okay…” He said quietly as he knelt down and began to shove his stuff into his bookbag.

He reached out to grab a book and Oliver had reached out at the same time. Their hands touched and Barry swore he felt electricity shoot through his hand. It wasn’t a painful shot, more like a jolt of excitement and warmth.

 

Barry and Oliver’s hands rested there for a moment but then Barry remembered how angry Hunter would be. He pulled his hand back and grabbed his notebook, putting it in his bag before mumbling a soft thank you and rushing out the door, leaving a confused Oliver in his wake.

  


Cisco followed Barry out and caught up with him. “Dude are you alright?” He asked. He was one of the few people close to Barry that knew about his boyfriends… tendencies.

 

Barry was shaking slightly “I just…” He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down “Hunter… I have to go meet up with Hunter.” he mumbled, earning a look of sympathy from Cisco.

“Barry… he… He isn't good for you. He hurts y-”

 

“Sorry Cisco, I gotta go.” He mumbled, rushing off. Hunter would be mad if he was late again.

 

He looked down as he walked towards the spot he was supposed to meet up with Hunter.

He knew Hunter was no good for him. But Barry could barely remember what to do with himself without him. He still remembered how they first met. How sweet and charming he was. He liked to believe that some of that man was still left in him. It felt better to have hope rather than to focus on the pain the man brought him.

He took another shaky breath before making a corner and seeing Hunter standing there with a look of anger on his face...and Harry standing right there next to him.

  
‘'Oh no…'’ he whimpered softly, not loud enough for any of the other students passing by to hear him. He walked forwards, bracing himself for what was to come next.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I would like to thank the other author for being so goddamn amazing, and helping me write this.

Hunter was pissed. Hearing that Barry was taking to another boy? He shouldn’t even be _looking_ at another boy, let alone talking to one. Especially when this one was _Oliver Queen_. Not ok, not at all.

He was lucky to have someone like Harry watching out for him. What was next, Barry telling him their relationship was… _rough_? Barry always gave him this look, like he was scared of him, but Hunter didn’t know why. He just liked control, and didn’t want anyone going _near_ his boyfriend.

He saw Barry standing cowardly in the spot they were supposed to meet. He backed his boyfriend into an empty classroom, Harry following from not too far behind.

Once they were in the room, Hunter told Harry to shut the door and keep watch. He had to teach Barry a “lesson” on why he couldn’t interact with other boys.

First thing he did was push barry to the ground, ignoring the fact that his hands flew up in defense. He found it adorable that Barry thought he could stop this.

“So, a little _birdie_ told me Oliver _Queen_ was sitting next to you today in Singh’s class,” he snarled at Barry, who was practically shaking on the ground.

“S-Singh p-put him next to me,” Barry defended, weakly. Hunter kicked him and Barry yelped in pain and grabbed his side. He then kneeled down, so he was facing Barry. “I don’t want you _talking_ to him, I don’t want you _looking_ at him, and don’t think I won’t know if you do,” He said, before standing back up. He opened the door, leaving Barry behind, and walked away with Harry, all plans forgotten.

Barry groaned, blinking back tears as he started to get up. He knew Hunter meant well, but sometimes, it hurt more than it should.

As if Barry wasn’t already lucky enough, as he was getting up Oliver just so happened to walk by. He noticed Barry, and rushed over to help him up. Barry didn’t really have a choice, seeing as Oliver just forced him up. It hurt, but not as much as his side, where Hunter kicked him.

“Are you ok? What happened?” Oliver asked, but Barry just looked down and hurried out of the room.

“Barry?” Oliver asked, following him out of the room. He hoped he got his name right, he didn’t properly get his name.

Barry turned around, and looking up without making eye contact, he said, “I’m fine, Oliver. I’m going home, leave me alone please,” before all but running off.

Oliver just stared at him, stunned by his reaction. What happened to him? With Barry running off, he guessed he’d have to figure out tomorrow.

\-----

The next day, Barry did whatever he could to avoid Oliver. Sure, he was hot, but not hot enough to disobey his boyfriend.

Cisco tried asking him if everything was ok, and Barry wanted to tell him what happened, but he was too scared to. Hunter would somehow find out he told someone, and hurt him again.

He knew Hunter just wanted to protect him, but his “protection” got so much more… _violent_ than it used to be. He was too...rough. And last time Barry checked, love wasn't supposed to hurt…

He was walking to lunch now. Hunter apparently was skipping school today to go out with his friends who were also skipping school. It made Barry feel so much better. But he still had to be careful. He didn't know if Hunter had anyone else watching him. Trying to catch him talking to Oliver. Speaking of which, Barry just had to make a very sharp left to avoid Oliver walking down the hallway. Apparently he hadn't turned fast enough because about ten seconds later his name was called and he felt a hand grab his shoulder. It was gentle, though Barry still flinched slightly and received a concerned look from the rich blonde. He turned slightly and kept his gaze down, Hunter’s words still ringing in his head _’I don't want you looking at him’_  
It seemed like forever before Oliver spoke “I um… I was just checking on you cause you seemed a little upset yesterday.” He said looking at Barry.

Barry peaked up at him from beneath his bangs “I'm um… f-fine… now please, I… I don't want to talk right now…” he said softly. He hated being or sounding rude so he spoke again “My throat just hurts is all…” He lied.

Oliver looked at him and Barry held his breath. ’ _does he not believe me? Is he going to ask more questions? Oh god what if someone's watching? Oh god Hunter’s gonna be pissed….’_

  
He turned quickly and tried to walk away again, this time, Oliver made no move to stop him which he was so grateful for.

  
‘ _Thank you,Oliver…’_

___________________________________

Oliver didn't know why he was so interested in Barry. Maybe because he was the first person that wasn't trying to fuck him, maybe it was because if the feeling of kindness he gave off or the dorky, shy adorableness that seemed to surround the thin boy. He didn't know. But one thing he did know, something was wrong. The type of shyness Barry was showing seemed more like fear. And the way Barry reacted yesterday. Something was going on. And he was determined to find out what.

Suddenly a voice behind him broke his train of thought and he turned around.  
“Sorry, what was that?” He asked, having not understood the person.  
He looked at the person in front of him. She was a petite strawberry blonde carrying what seemed to be chemistry books.  
“I said,” she repeated, smiling sadly, “You should stop talking to him.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow and he felt a short burst of anger in his gut “Excuse me?” He asked as he shifted his jaw.

She sighed “I… I don't mean that to be rude, but Barry has a boyfriend who can be really jealous.” She explained. Oliver stared at her and his expression softened because she wasn't seeming crude. Her facial expressions showed she really did care about Barry.

“I’m Caitlin.” she told Oliver, looking at him with shy eyes. Oliver just kept staring at her, unsure of what to do or say.

“I’m… Oliver,” he said, not sure what to do the information. What did she mean by jealous? Was he just overprotective? Barry was a great guy, so he could see why his boyfriend would be.

Caitlin nodded. “Yea, I know,” she said, averting her eyes away from him. “I should probably get to class,” she said shyly, before starting to walk away.

“Hey Caitlin?” Oliver asked, and Caitlin turned around. “Thanks,” he said, smiling sincerely. Caitlin smiled. “I just thought you should know, you know, for your own safety,” she said, before walking to her next class.

Oliver just stared at her as she walked off. What did she mean ‘for your own safety’? It made him wonder, who was his boyfriend? Was he violent? It made sense but he hoped he was wrong. He would just have to wait to see. For now he needed to head to his class before he was late.

Once Oliver got to class, he took his seat next to Barry. “Hey,” he said with a smile, attempting to make conversation. Barry just looked down at the table, and Oliver’s smile slid off his face.

Singh talked about… _whatever_ , the whole class, but Oliver wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he was looking at Barry. What had happened to him, making him so closed off? Was he always like this? Was it because of his boyfriend? He wanted to ask, but he knew Barry would ignore him again. Maybe he could talk to Caitlin, see what she knew.

Yea, that would work. The only problem was, how was he going to find her? He barely knew her! Oh well, he’d figure it out. For Barry. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its shorf Dx and thank so much to the other author for helping me write up this chapter!

It was lunch and Barry, with no one to sit beside since Hunter wasn't there, sat at Cisco and Caitlin’s table.

 

The two friends smiled at him. 

“You okay Barry?” Caitlin asked softly as she stared at Barry.

_‘No, not really’_ he wanted to say. But it didn't matter if he said anything anyways. What could they do? Hunter was sneaky and a good liar. Besides, he couldn't let his friends get hurt because of his problems.

“Yeah. I'm okay.” He lied with a soft smile.

 

Cisco smiled at him and he knew Barry hated pity, so instead he started up a conversation.

“Dude! Okay so today during robotics, this one kid, Hartley, started to make this one robot that just wouldn't stop making these high pitch squealing sound and it cracked all the windows /and Mr. Wells’ glasses!” He said laughing. That brought a small smile to Barry’s face and he laughed a little. And that made Cisco and Caitlin smile more because Barry rarely laughed anymore. The three continued to talk about their classes while Cisco told clearly over exaggerated stories using drastic hand gestures and sounds, causing the other two to laugh. It felt good to Barry, finally getting a chance to relax and not be so tense and guarded.

They were all talking and laughing when suddenly caitlin and stopped and Cisco’s eyes lowered to his plate. Barry looked at them confused “what? What are you guys looking a-”

“Hey Bar.” 

_ ’uh oh…’ _

Barry turned to look up and saw Hunter standing behind him. “O-Oh h-hi Babe…” he said quietly. “I th-thought you were going out today?” He asked. He felt scared. Hunter was suppose to be skipping today. Why did he come back?

 

Hunter just smirked and leaned down, wrapping his arms around Barry's neck, making him fight a flinch as the other roughly kissed and sucked on his neck. And that's when Barry could smell the alcohol.

 

“Hunter… You- Hunter, stop.” He tried saying as the obviously drunk man began to get a little more...frisky… with his movements. Barry looked to his friends, his gaze begging them to leave so they wouldn't see this. They were hesitant, especially when a soft pained yelp exited their friends lips as the other man bit at his neck. Barry looked at them again, and reluctantly, they left.

 

The good thing about the placement of their table, it was outside where barely anyone ate, there were no cameras and no one on the inside could see them.

The bad thing? … those exact things meant trouble for him.

 

Barry turned so he could face his boyfriend better. “Babe,” he whispered. “You're drunk-ba- Hunter,stop!” He tried to sound convincing as the other kept making unwanted advances. A hand held the small of his back as a knee was placed between his legs. He whimpered again before squirming away from the others grasp. Hunter stopped and glared at Barry “Did I say you could go?” He growled.

 

Barry flinched.

 

_ 'He's always worse in booze…’ He thought sadly. _

 

“You're drunk.” Barry said softly. “You're gonna get in trouble with your coach.” He tried to justify his words by making it about Hunter and not Himself.

 

Hunter scoffed. “Yea? What’s it to you?” he said quietly, in a slightly menacing tone, subconsciously squeezing Barry’s arm tighter. Barry flinched. 

 

“Hunter… please, let go…” Barry begged, knowing it  would do nothing. The grip tightened on his arm and he couldn't help but cry out weakly.

 

Hunter smirked and dug his nails into the others arm. “What's the matter babe?” He taunted as he pushed himself up against the other “Thought you liked a little pain.” He said as he tried to bite at the others neck. 

 

Barry just decided to accept his fate. It would only make it worse if he struggled. That was until a teacher pulled the other off of him.

 

Barry blinked when the pressure was off of his arm and he looked to see Hunter’s coach yelling at him. He felt his stomach drop at the look of pure _anger_ that the other had on his face. That's when he heard the coach tell him he was on the bench for the season. Barry knew he would be dealing with the end of this and it wouldn't be pretty. So he tried to fix it.

 

“N-No! I- He… It wasn't what it looked like! We were just fooling around.” He tried to take up for his boyfriend. The coach turned to look at him. “I could care less that you two were practically doing it on the table. It's the fact that Zolomon here decided to show up to school _drunk_!” He said in a stern tone.

 

“Oh um...no that was my fault. I was having him help me with a project and the chemicals exploded and it leaves the scent of alcohol.” He lied. He should stop doing that.

 

The other looked at him for a moment before speaking “Be careful next time. Get something to get that smell off of him.” Was all he said before walking away.

 

Barry let out a soft breath before tensing up when a hand had grabbed his shoulder, but it wasn't as painful as before. 

 

“Thanks babe.” Hunter said before placing a wet and sloppy kiss over the others lips. Barry cringed at the taste of alcohol until that too was gone and then Hunter was walking off, but not before grabbing Barry's ass and slapping it. Barry squirmed, very uncomfortable at the amount of unwanted physical contact. But hey, it was less painful then how it could have been. 

 

Hunter then saw a couple of his friends, also drunk, walking toward them. “Hunter, why’d you come back?” Harry asked, trying his hardest not to slur his words. 

 

“Had ‘ta check on Barry,” Hunter said, caring a bit less that he was slurring. Barry looked down, then up at Harry. 

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Oliver staring that the group. He looked up at Hunter, who appeared to not see him yet. Barry wanted to tell him to go, but the most he could do was keep his eyes widened and hope that Oliver got the hint. 

 

Lucky for the both of them, he did. And just in time, as Harry saw Barry staring past him and went to see what he was looking at, to find nothing. Barry let out a soft sigh of relief at that. At least Oliver was safe. 

 

“What were you lookin’ at, Barry?” Harry asked, looking at him skeptically. Hunter set his gaze on Barry, as if to pressure him into answering. 

 

“No one, I just… kind of spaced out,” Barry said, quietly. Hunter, when sober, could have easily seen through his lie. But being drunk, he brushed it off along with his friends. They dragged each other away, stumbling slightly as they tried to walk together in a normal fashion. Barry watched and waited until they were far from sight before collapsing onto the seat and trying to stop trembling.

 

He was so lost in himself, he didn't realize Oliver had walked up and sat beside him.

“Hey.” Was all he said. And Barry nearly jumped out of his skin.

“O-Oliver-! I um... I uh… gotta go.” He said quickly and tried to get up and leave but Oliver had grabbed his wrist. It was gentle and not rough at all but the mere memory of Hunter dragging him around by his wrist had him kicking into submission and he stopped moving. It was simply a learnt habiti. If his wrist was grabbed then he was to listen or he would be punished.

 

Oliver furrowed his brow. Barry had literally ran from him before and now he just… Stopped?

Once he had the brunet’s attention, he began to talk to him.

“Hey. Are you-” nope, couldn't ask that, He would just shrug him off and run away again. “How are you?” He fixed his sentence.

 

Barry just stared at him with wide, frightened, hazel eyes before looking away and towards the door where Hunter had disappeared through before turning back. “Um…. I-I’m good?” He said softly, but it was more of a question. Why was Oliver Queen so interested in having a conversation with him? 

 

Oliver heard the inquisitive tone of the others voice and he released his hand giving a small smile to the younger, was he younger? They were in the same grade. But he had such an innocent and soft face. He had to be at least a little younger.

 

Oliver must’ve taken longer to respond than he thought, because then Barry looked up at him with innocent, broken eyes, and asked, “C-can I go now? I… have something I need to do.”

 

Oliver saw straight through that lie, but he also heard the fear in his voice. Oliver nodded, but gently grabbed Barry’s and before he had the chance to escape. He pretended not to notice him tense up as he grabbed him. 

 

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” Oliver asked, giving Barry a soft smile. Barry raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by his words. 

 

“Y-yea,” Barry said softly, looking around to make sure no one was watching.  Oliver nodded, and slowly let go of Barry’s arm. “You can go now,” he said reluctantly. He didn’t want Barry to go, but he didn’t want Barry to get hurt either. There really wasn’t a choice in the matter, what with his _j_ _ealous boyfriend_  and all. 

 

Once Oliver let go, Barry all but ran out of the cafeteria. He wasn’t eager to get out or anything, just scared. Scared that Hunter would hurt him, scared that he would hurt Oliver, and he didn’t want that. Oliver didn’t deserve to be hurt because of him. It just wasn’t fair. 

 

Oh god. What if someone _did_ see him and Oliver talking? Would they tell Hunter? Barry took a couple of deep breaths. Maybe, if someone _did_ tell Hunter, hed could explain that Oliver came up to him, and not the other way around. Not that it worked so well last time, of course, but it was worth a try. 

 

Or, he could get lucky and no one would tell Hunter at all. Then, he would be safe, and Oliver would be safe. 

 

The chances of that happening were low, but it wasn’t wrong to hope, was it?

  
Barry hated leaving, he knew that he and Oliver didn't even know each other. They literally just met the other day and haven't had an actual conversation yet. Barry wished it were different, but he wouldn't do- couldn't do that, to Hunter. Yeah their relationship was rough and it needed to end but… Hunter has been the only one to show he loved him. He was a loser that no one else would ever want. He didn't have anyone else besides Hunter. He could deal with a little rough treatment. Maybe he would try to talk to Oliver more, but later and not at school. It would be too easy for Hunter to find out.  For now he would just have to walk this pathway of eggshells around his boyfriend until it was safe. Something his relationship hadn't been in a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Hunter woke up with the worst hangover possible. It didn't help that these complete idiots walking through the hallways just wouldn't shut up. He'd already shoved two nerds into the lockers to give people the hint that he was in a pissy mood. He was going to find Barry. He wanted to make sure he'd behaved yesterday, he hadn't remembered much after the booze. That included coming to the school.

He looked around until he found his boyfriend sitting on a bench outside, doing some class’ homework.

He smirked and walked over. “Hey babe.” He said as he sat beside him and took away his notebook, setting it to the side.

Barry jumped a little but looked up and smiled shyly “H-Hey.” The smaller man said softly. Barry was so happy not to smell alcohol on his boyfriend today.

“So, what’d I miss yesterday? Were you a good boy?” He hummed as he leaned closer and set a trail of kisses along Barry's neck, only being rough a couple of times just to make sure Barry wouldn't try lying.

“Y-Yes, I was.” Barry said softly. Hunter smirked. The good thing about having Barry as a boyfriend? He could always see when he lied because he was such a goody two-shoes, he rarely lied so he couldn't cover up when he did.  
This time though, his boyfriend seemed to be telling the truth. He grabbed Barry's chin and made him look at him. “Good.” He said as he leaned forwards and roughly, claimed the others soft lips. But not too rough, he only did that when Barry needed to be punished.

Barry smiled into the kiss, it was a little forceful, but he loved this part of Hunter, the part that could be gentle and loving. He wasn't all bad. Why couldn't his friends see that too? Hunter wouldn't be so bad if Barry would stop messing up.. It wasn't Hunter’s fault, it was his.

Hunter moaned, and tried to deepen the kiss. Usually when he did this, Barry tried to pull away. Knowing Hunter, it would lead to an uncomfortable amount of intimacy. So, when Hunter deepened the kiss, Barry pushed him off slightly.

“Hunter, we’re at school,” Barry said quietly at the look Hunter gave him. Hunter sighed.

“Fine, you’re right,” he said, before pulling around his bookbag. “I didn’t have the time to do my homework last night, babe, would you mind doing it for me?” He asked, but it was more of a demand. Both Barry and Hunter knew it.

Barry sighed. “Of course,” he said, putting his own work aside. Hunter handed him his homework, and gave him a rough kiss on the cheek. “You’re the best,” he said, before getting up and walking away.

Barry looked down at the homework. This wasn’t the first time Hunter had him do his homework Actually, Barry did it most of the time, and when Hunter ended up failing his tests, he took his anger out on Barry. Barry tried telling him before he got too violent that he wouldn’t learn anything if Barry did all his homework, but Hunter ignored him. But, he wasn’t _completely_ failing his classes, and that’s what mattered most to both of them. But they both had different reasons for that being a good thing.

Cisco and Caitlin had both noticed that Barry’s grades started dropping when he started dating Hunter. It wasn’t his fault, though. He just didn’t always have the time to do it all. Besides, it wasn’t like they were necessarily _bad_ grades. Low A’s, high B’s. His parents weren’t fans of his grades, but at least he wasn’t failing.

Barry looked through the book of the lesson the homework was on. He was in more advanced classes than Hunter, but that didn’t mean he knew everything about his homework.

He sighed. Why couldn’t Hunter just suck it up and at least _try_ in school? It wasn’t fair to Barry that he had to do all of his boyfriend’s work for him.

Barry looked up, more frustrated at his boyfriend than usual, when he saw Oliver walking his way. Barry’s eyes widened.

‘ _Shit, shit, shit_ ,’ he thought, as he quickly moved to put his - and Hunter’s - stuff away. He was too late though. By the time he got everything in his bag, Oliver had approached him.

“Hey, everything ok?” Oliver asked, sitting next to him. Barry just kept looking at the bag, too scared that if he looked up at the man, someone would tell Hunter.

At the lack of reply, Oliver continued to talk. “Look, I don’t know what I did wrong, but I would like us to be friends. You seem like a great guy, Barry, and I would like to get to know you,” he said, putting a hand on Barry’s shoulder. At this, Barry’s head shot up and he looked at Oliver with wide eyes.

Oliver didn’t let that stop him from trying to be friendly, and it was clear to Barry that he wasn’t going away anytime soon. “Y-you don’t want to be friends with me, trust me,” he said quietly, looking down.

Oliver just scoffed. “Give me one good reason why,” he said. Barry just looked at the ground more intensely.

“My boyfriend won’t like it, I’m only good for doing work, I’m a big nerd, and I’m lucky to have friends at all,” he said, quoting things Hunter had previously convinced him of.

Oliver scoffed again. “Bullshit,” he said, in an unbelieving tone. “Nerds are cool, and they get far in life. You are good for more than doing work, or, at least I would know if you gave me a chance. As for your boyfriend? I’m sure I can take him in a fight,” Oliver said confidently.

Barry looked up at him with wide eyes. “You don’t want to fight him, trust me, it’s not worth it,” he said quickly. As soon as he did, he realised what he said, and gasped.

“I-I’ve gotta go,” he said quickly, before grabbing his bag and running back inside. Oh god what had he just said? Oh Hunter was going to kill him if he found out…

While Barry ran off, Oliver just stood there trying to think of what the hell just happened. Something was going on and Oliver wanted to know what. What did Barry mean? Was he just saying that his boyfriend was strong or just stubborn? He hated not knowing, it was aggravating to no extent to not know. He wasn't nosy, but something in his gut was telling him there was more to this than a jealous boyfriend. There had to be.

He just watched as Barry disappeared behind a door, but not before sending a worried look at Oliver before he left.

Oliver just sighed and looked down, Barry had left a paper on the bench, it looked like homework and he was about to go give it to him until he saw the name. Hunter...Zolomon? Who was that? Is he Barry's boyfriend? He had to be, that was the only thing he could think of to make sense as to why Barry would have his homework in the first place. If it was, it helped him to his advantage, he could return his work to him and get to know him a bit. Yeah, come to think of it, he had a Hunter Zolomon in his first period. He could give it to him then. Oh crap, the bell had rung, welp, time to go to first period.

Oliver made it into the classroom as soon as the bell had rung for first period. “Cutting it close there, are we, Mr. Queen?” The teacher, Mr. Lance said. Mr. Lance held resentment for Oliver ever since he and his daughter, Laurel, broke up.

“Sorry, Mr. Lance,” Oliver said with a sheepish smile, before taking the empty seat next to Hunter.

“You left this out on the bench,” Oliver whispered to Hunter once class started, handing him his homework. Hunter gave him a deadly look.

“How did you get this?” Hunter whispered, in a threatening tone.

“I found it lying on the bench when the bell rang, plain and simple. I think I saw Barry Allen’s sitting underneath it, I’m not sure,” he said, hoping he wasn’t getting Barry into too much trouble.

Hunter glared at Oliver one more time, before mumbling, “Thanks.” Oliver just rolled his eyes, and began to take notes.

Once the bell rang, Hunter all but ran out of the classroom. Oliver followed, not trusting what he would do to Barry. He followed from a safe distance, though.

When it was clear Hunter wasn’t going to find him before the next class, Oliver relaxed. This meant Barry was safe for now. Still, he couldn’t help but worry.

He saw Caitlin come around the corner, and grabbed her arm. “Do you have any classes with Barry?” he asked, and Caitlin nodded.

“Yea, I have the next one, why?” She asked, a concerned look growing on her face.

“Just… tell him to meet me by the janitor’s closet after class, and before lunch,” he told her, “it’s urgent.”

Caitlin shook her head. “Oliver, that’s not a good idea,” she said softly. “His boyfriend-”

“I don’t care,” Oliver said, “I can handle him. Just tell him to meet me here,” he said sternly, before heading to his next class. Caitlin watched him off in surprise, but shrugged it off. If Barry’s boyfriend killed him, it wasn’t her fault.

Once they got to the class, Caitlin sat down next to Barry. “Oliver Queen told me to tell you to meet him by the janitor’s closet between classes, and before lunch. He also said it’s urgent,” she whispered once class started. Barry looked at her in surprise.

“Is he _trying_ to get himself killed?” Barry frantically whispered back.

“I tried telling him your boyfriend wouldn’t like that, but he wouldn’t listen,” Caitlin shrugged. Barry looked down at the table.

He wanted to meet Oliver, he really did, but what if Hunter found out? Oliver would probably get hurt, _Barry_ would be dead, it wouldn’t end well.

But Oliver’s a well-built guy. He could maybe take Hunter in a fight. But on the other hand, Hunter has a bitching temper. That overpowers muscle any day. And Barry didn’t want to put that weight on Oliver’s shoulders.

“Mr. Allen? You still with us?” the teacher asked, and Barry’s head snapped up.

“Yea, yea sorry sir, I was just, uh…” Barry tried to come up with an excuse, but he was too slow.

The teacher shrugged it off, Barry was on top of the class anyway. “Don’t get distracted again, Mr. Allen, or it _will_ result in detention,” he said, before going back to the lesson.

Detention. Another thing Barry never got until he started dating Hunter. From taking the blame for Hunter’s wrongdoings, to being in too much pain to pay attention, he got it at least once every other week now. His parents didn’t know why the sudden change in behaviour, but Hunter would kill him if he told them. The worst part is, he could actually do it.

Barry sighed, as the bell rang. He was going to do it. He was going to meet Oliver.

“Caitlin?” He asked, before she could leave. Caitlin turned around, and hummed as if to ask, “What?”

“Could you maybe come with me?” He asked sheepishly, scared that Hunter would see him. Caitlin nodded. “Of course,” she said, waiting up for Barry.

The two started walking to the Janitor closet, and there was no Hunter anywhere to be seen. And, sure enough, Oliver was there.

“What do you want?” Barry asked, once Caitlin left.

“To protect you. You left Hunter’s homework outside,” Oliver said softly. He then put a gentle hand on Barry’s shoulder, causing Barry to tense up. “Why were you doing Hunter’s homework?” He asked, softly, and Barry looked down.

“I’m going to be late for class,” Barry said, and shrugged off Oliver’s hand. Rather than informing Barry he didn’t answer the question, Oliver said, “Meet me here next period too.”

Barry nodded, and scurried away from Oliver. Oliver sighed. What did Hunter do to that boy to make him like this?`


	5. Chapter 5

Barry was running scenarios through his head. Some were good but most of them bad. They were a mix of him wondering why Oliver wanted to meet up again, and also what might happen if Hunter caught him even standing near Oliver.

Barry sat down in his seat for his class. Second period, he shared this class with Hunter, but it was possible that Hunter might ditch. He did that, more often than not. And even if he didn’t ditch, Barry sat next to the door, and he could easily escape.

Barry had never been more thankful for Oliver Queen in his life, and he knew if Hunter found out about that, they would both end up dead.

Hunter shot Barry a glare, but smiled along with it so it wouldn’t look too bad to other people. That didn’t trick Barry, though. He knew he was in for it.

During that class, Barry couldn’t pay attention. How could he, when he was about to get the beating of his life? If he ran, it would look bad, but if he stayed, Hunter would have fun beating him up. But that was bound to happen anyway, so he abandoned all thoughts about running away and just accepted his fate.

The bell rang, and Hunter all but teleported to Barry’s side. “Hey, Babe,” he said, grabbing Barry’s ass. “A word please?”

Barry gulped, but nodded. “Yea, but I don’t want to be late to the next class,” he said sheepishly, not that Hunter cared or anything. Barry’s missed many classes in a row because of Hunter sometimes.

“You’ll be fine. Come, we’re going outside,” Hunter said, all but pushing him by his ass out the door, moving his arm up slightly so it looked like he was escorting him out to everyone else.

Once they were outside and away from all security cameras, Hunter shoved Barry to the ground. “You left my homework on the bence, you irresponsible bitch. Lucky Mr. _Queen_ found it, otherwise you’d be in a hell of a lot more trouble,” Hunter growled, and Barry closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to start. When it did start, it wasn’t as bad as it usually was. Maybe he just finally numbed to the beatings? He didn’t know whether that was good or bad but for the time being it was okay with him.

Hunter forced Barry up by his shirt and squeezed his arms. “You better not do that again, you hear me? If I find out you left my homework out for everyone else to see again, I’ll make sure you won’t be able to do any homework for a while,” he threatened, before smirking at his boyfriends fearful gaze, he forced is chin up and engulfed Barry into a rough kiss. Barry winced and whimpered his discomfort before Hunter let the kiss go and pushed Barry to the ground before heading back into the building. Barry sighed, and waited for Hunter to go inside before pushing himself up onto his elbows. He took his phone out of his pocket and checked it to see what time it was. When he turned the device on he noticed he texts from Cisco and Caitlin, both asking where he was and if he was ok. He sighed and turned his phone off, not bothering to answer. Getting up with a few pained grunts, he made his way to the bathroom to access the damage and hide the evidence that the event ever happened.

Barry walked - or limped - back inside, just as the bell rang for third period to end. He tried not to meet anyone’s eyes as he walked to his next class, but soon enough a figure stood in front of him, blocking his path.

“Look, Hunter, I don’t know what else I did, but I’m sorry,” Barry quickly said, before looking up to see that the person in front of him wasn’t, in fact, his boyfriend, but Oliver.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said, gently grabbing Barry’s arms. Barry flinched, but eventually relaxed into the touch. “I was supposed to protect you, and, seeing as you missed third period, I guess I failed,” he continued, looking into Barry’s eyes.

“We’re going to be late to class,” Barry said, looking back down, tears beginning to surface. No. He would not cry. That would prove he was a coward, just like Hunter always said.

How did Oliver know about Hunter… _hurting_ him anyway? Did someone tell him? Just when he was starting to _maybe_ consider Oliver a friend, too. He probably was just pitying him now.

“Fuck class,” Oliver said, forcing Barry to look into his eyes. “It’s my fault you got hurt, and I can’t tell you how bad I feel,” he said, pulling Barry into a hug. That was when the floodgates broke for Barry, and he just silently sobbed into Oliver’s shoulder. Oliver ran his hand up and down Barry’s back, hoping to be comforting to the younger man.

The two slowly migrated to a wall, and a teacher who passed by asked them which class they were in, and got both of them an excuse from said class.

About five minutes later, Barry calmed down and wiped his eyes. “I’m sorry, I… oh god, Hunter’s going to kill me if he finds out I even _looked_ at you,” Barry said, and Oliver could tell Barry was serious.

“What exactly does he do to you, Barry? If it’s ok for me to ask, I understand if you don’t want to tell me,” Oliver said, running a hand down Barry’s arm.

Barry sighed, and looked around. “Can we go outside?” Barry asked, looking back a Oliver. Oliver nodded, and led him outside.

Once they were outside, Barry sat against the wall, Oliver doing the same. After a moment’s silence, Barry whispered, “He hurts me. Bad. And he threatens me,” with his eyes fixated on the ground. Oliver put an arm around Barry, not saying anything. He just wanted him to vent.

“I… he does all this shit to me, and it sucks, but I still love him. When we started dating, he was nice to me. He wouldn’t lay a finger on me, unless it was life or death. I don’t know when or why he started hurting me, but it was like he completely snapped,” Barry said, and his eyes widened.

“Oh my god,” he said, and got up.

“What’s wrong?” Oliver asked, getting up as well.

“I can’t be here, someone’s going to see, he has eyes everywhere. Oh my god, Why did I tell you anything? That was so stupid, he’s going to kill me, he’s going to kill _you_ , he’s -”

“Barry, calm down,” Oliver interrupted, gently grabbing Barry’s arms again. “Hunter won’t hurt me, and if it makes you feel better, I don’t have to tell anyone, as much as I want to, I won’t,” he said, and Barry looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asked, and Oliver nodded. “I promise I won’t,” he said, as much as he hated it. Someone, preferably an adult, needed to know. But he worked hard to get Barry’s trust, and he didn’t want to break it.

Barry looked down again, and nodded. “Thank you,” he said, before wiggling out of Oliver’s grasp and walking to the office, still slightly limping. Oliver sighed. At least progress was made, right?

Barry made his way to the office and asked, “Can you call my parents? I don’t feel too good.” The office lady looked at him with remorse, having seen him limp to the office, and nodded. Barry smiled at her sheepishly, and sat down in one of the chairs. He tried to lean on the arm rest, but flinched at the contact. He sat back up, and leaned against the back of the chair. It was uncomfortable, but it was better than painful.

About twenty minutes later, Barry’s mom came rushing into the office. She was overprotective in a way, therefore Barry wasn’t allowed to drive to school in case he got into an accident. Barry just decided not to question it, even though Hunter has beaten him for not being able to drive him around.

“Hey, honey, are you ok?” Nora asked, kneeling in front of him. Barry nodded.

“I’m just not feeling good, mom, it’s fine,” he lied, not feeling up to telling her the truth. He didn’t _want_ to know what would happen if his mom found out about what Hunter did. She was accepting enough about his sexuality as it was; what if she changed her mind when she found out his boyfriend was… _rough_?

Nora smiled. “Let’s go then,” she said, grabbing his hand. Barry nodded, and got up. Nora signed him out and the two left the building, but not before Barry looked back at Oliver, who was just outside the office. Barry smiled back at him, before looking at the door and leaning into his mom.

Oliver smiled back, and sighed. He knew Barry wouldn’t want to talk to him after today, but that just meant he’d have to try harder to talk to the younger man. After all, Barry needed someone be honest with, and Oliver was beginning to think that was him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if updates from me become more sporadic (and the stories I’m updating will probably have the same message), I’m going to a new school now, so I’m going to try to actually care about school for a bit before writing, so yea. I’m sorry about that - kr1411


	6. Chapter 6

Barry let out a soft sigh as he lied on his bed. He turned his head and glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. It was about time for them to be in the middle of fourth period, he would just have to make up work for third and fourth later. For now he focused on the comfort of the soft mattress helping him melt into the warmth of the blankets surrounding him. Due to an incident with Hunter, his mom and Dad had to buy him a new mattress to help him sleep better. His back still hurt when it was cold. Of course, to his parents he had hurt his back ‘slipping’ down a flight of stairs. The only good thing that had come out of that incident is that Hunter had been surprisingly gentle and almost apologetic with him until he healed, then again, that was when he was still sort of nice to him. He could remember when they had first met, a memory he repeatedly looked back to when he needed assurance that he was still fighting for something in their relationship besides his life….

 

_ “Hey,” a deep voice said as Barry turned away from his locker to see a fairly tall guy with brownish blond hair. He was handsome with pretty eyes and a flirty smile, he honestly would have been more attracted if it hadn't been for the sports jacket he bore, labelling him as a jock and unfortunately for Barry, a bully. _

 

_ Barry’s eyes dropped. It was his first year at a new high school and already he had been targeted by jocks. He let out a soft sigh and just set his books back in his locker “If you're gonna hit me, just go ahead and do it, just try not to make me late for first period.” He sighed _

_ By this point, Barry was use to bullies and getting the shit beat out of him, he’d gotten use to expecting nothing more and nothing less. So he was generally surprised when the man in front of him gave him a confused, sympathetic look.  _

 

_ “Why would I hurt you? I was trying to hit on you, in the flirting sense, not the physical.” He teased with a soft smirk. Now that was something Barry was not use to, his face went red and he looked down “O-Oh-Um I...Uh...S-Sorry? Um… I didn’t...uh…” He continued to stutter, trying to think of something intelligible to say when the man let out a soft laugh. “It’s fine, I’m Hunter, and you’re hot, but what’s your name?” _

 

_ “Uh..Barry?” He said though it sounded more like  question and he wanted to slap himself. He probably looked and sounded so stupid, no wonder he got bullied all the damn time. _

 

_ “Well, Barry, What’s your first period?” Hunter asked as he leaned comfortably on the locker beside him. Barry fumbled with the paper that had his schedule on it and rattled off the reply. Hunter nodded and smiled “Well, how about I walk you there? Help you not get lost on the first day of school.” He said smiling. Barry smiled back, the warm feeling that the other gave off was helping calm his nerves, he was nervous at first, and honestly, he was scared that he would be bullied because of his sexuality, but if the Jock, Hunter, was into guys, was he in any danger? That’s when he almost slapped himself again, this had to be some kind of prank, he’d almost been stupid enough to fall for it and if he went with this man he would end up, tied up and naked to the flagpole. He turned and grabbed his books, ready to leave. “It’s fine, thank you though, I can manage on my own.” He said, trying to hold back the disappointment, he had wanted to believe that for once he could manage to be happy, but he’d been in this game long enough to know that happy just wasn’t a thing in his life. _

_ The man once again held a confused look on his face before seeming to understand. “Hey, I know that you’re probably thinking this is a trick but I promise I’m not trying to trick you into following me just to get jumped by some of my buddies, ok? I honestly just want to walk you to your class, if it’ll make you feel better, there’s some maps of the hallways on the walls, it should give you some directions on how to get to class.” He offered, smiling sympathetically at Barry who stared at him, silently debating whether to trust Hunter or not. _

 

‘Why not? If it is a trick, it would have happened sooner or later so might as well get it over with.’  _ He thought to himself  before sighing “Alright.” He agreed and Hunter’s smile brightened warmly. “This way.” He said as he held out his arm to gester down the hallway.  _

_ Surprisingly, Hunter had actually walked him to his class, and his other classes as well. Bought him lunch and everything. Maybe this Hunter wasn’t as bad a guy as he had originally thought? _

 

Barry sighed as he opened his eyes and stared at the rotating ceiling fan that swirled around above his head. He desperately clung to that memory, to let himself know that there once was a good man in Hunters’ body, what happened to him? He didn't know. He just hoped that maybe there was some of him left, that Hunter wasn’t as cruel as he seemed.

 

Barry was brought from his thoughts by the door cracking open. He looked in that direction, and saw his dad peeking in from the door.

 

“Hey, slugger,” he greeted, walking into the room. Barry furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“Dad? Shouldn’t you be at work?” Barry asked softly. As much as he wanted his dad here, the older man still had a job. Barry didn’t want to be the one constantly getting in the way of it.

 

“Took the rest of the day off,” Henry said, sitting next to Barry. “Heard you weren’t feeling too well, and told your mom I’d take care of you.”

 

Barry smiled. “Thanks, dad,” he said, leaning up.  He loved his dad, loved his family. They were such loving parents and he honestly felt like he didn’t deserve them. Not after all the lies he’d told them, the lies he was sure to tell. They didn’t deserve lies, but if they knew the truth, they’d stop him from seeing Hunter, and he’d surely get his ass beaten at school, either by Hunter or his buddies. And that thought terrified him because Hunter would hold back sometimes, while friends, like Harry, wouldn’t. His stomach dropped at that thought and he tried to focus on something else.

 

“You alright slugger?” His dad asked as he placed a gentle hand on his son’s shoulder, causing the other to look up at him. He had to violently fight back a flinch when his dad had touched him. It wasn’t his dad’s fault, but after these few years of abuse, gentleness was not something he was use to anymore. And that scared him because he loved getting hugs and cuddling, he was a physically needy person. He needed contact from other people but with what Hunter had been doing lately, his body was on alert that every touch was going to be painful. 

Barry looked at him and despite the older man’s cheerful exterior, he could see the worry and deeper concern hidden behind his eyes. “Y-Yeah I um… Just a rough day at school and mixed with not feeling well it’s just making my head hurt and making me a little hazy.” He half lied. He was kind of out of it and not feeling well, but he wasn’t telling the full truth. It was a lot more than an upset stomach and a headache. But he couldn’t let his parents know that. His father didn’t seem to believe him, but he didn’t push the question any farther and nodded. He stood up from the bed and smiled softly at his son “Get better, ‘kay?” He said smiling “I’ll be up later with some soup if you want. Also, Joe and Iris are coming over later today if you’re feeling up to it.” He said softly before walking out and closing the door, letting Barry have some alone time. Barry smiled softly at the door before laying back on the bed. His mind wandered to Oliver. A man that Hunter was deathly jealous of, but also a man that treated him like a friend and not a charity case. He had loved Star City’s rich boy since he found out he was gay, but honestly, it was nothing more than a celebrity crush and a pointless chase for romance. But now… He had to think. If he were to leave Hunter…. Would there ever be a chance for the two of them? What if Oliver didn’t feel that way? He just had to see, because even if he left Hunter, there was no guarantee that he and Oliver would ever be anything more than friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you liked the chapter, i know, it was so short and i owed more due to the long period of time with nothing. Im sorry guys, school and life got so stressful i had like 0 downtime. But hopefully it should get better and i should post a little more frequently. Sorry mah dudes. Also, hoping to get some more fandoms in my collection, working on a few jason todd/red hood ones as well as maybe one or two spn and/or marvel ones once i get the muse for em. Anyways, thanks for being patient guys!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Here ya go!

Just as promised, Joe and Iris did come by later.  Barry was feeling slightly better, and was genuinely excited for the West’s to come over. 

 

Joe, Henry, and Nora all thought that one day, Barry and Iris would end up getting married. That is, until he came out. Of course, Iris was the reason he came out to them in the first place. She was the first one he told, and she was just excited to have someone to talk about boys with. It made Barry feel slightly better thinking about Iris, She was his best friend and they shared so many good memories, it kind of helped take his mind off of Hunter.

 

Of course it didn’t last long, Hunter always ruined a good mood. Even when he wasn’t there. Which brought up the question in his mind.

 

Why was he still with him? Why was he with a man that did nothing but hurt him? He didn’t know anymore. Was it because he still saw something in him? Or because he was too scared to leave?  He half hoped it was the second option. It was worse but it made him feel better, made him feel like maybe he wasn’t such a pushover as everyone seemed to think he was.

 

Barry sighed. He didn’t even know anymore. Ever since Oliver came to the school he had been off. Soon enough, he’d be so out of it that Hunter could nearly kill him. Hunter wouldn’t let that happen, though; he couldn’t have anyone know about his “secret.” 

 

Barry was slowly starting to realise what a burden Hunter has been on him. Iris has told him before that his smile hasn’t been as… /real as it was before he started dating Hunter. Barry ignored that, though. Hunter made him happy. Or at least, that’s what he wanted to believe. Now, he wasn’t so sure. 

 

“Hey, slugger, Joe and Iris are here,” Henry said, knocking on Barry’s door. Barry jumped out of his thoughts and nodded. “I’ll be right down,” he said, putting on a smile. He wasn’t in the mood for smiling, not when he was sore as hell all over. Still, he had to put on a false front for his parents and the Wests.

 

“I’ll be right down,” Barry said, slowly getting out of his bed. Henry didn’t question his pace as he shut the door. Barry limped over to his dresser, and slowly took his shirt off. He looked in the mirror, and god, he looked awful. Barry quickly pulled out another shirt, and put it on. He changed his pants, but just changed them into sweats. He didn’t care about looking nice in front of the West’s; They didn’t care about how he looked. 

 

Once he changed, he made his way downstairs. Iris waved at him, a bright smile bestow her face. Joe gave Barry a warm smile, one that made Barry feel good. 

 

“Hey, Barr,” Joe said, as Iris gave him a hug. Barry slightly flinched at the contact, but Iris ignored it. She would ask later, like she always did. 

 

Barry then grabbed Joe’s hand, and shook it. Joe was like a second dad to him, he would trust the man with his life. Whenever Henry had a late shift, and his mom wasn’t there, he would always hang out with the West’s. And sometimes he just showed up at their house with no warning. They never minded. After all, Barry was like a son/brother to them. 

 

“How are you, kid?” Joe asked, and Barry smiled. With the happiest voice he could muster, he said, “I’m doing fine, Joe.” 

 

Behind him, Iris raised an eyebrow. She always knew when Barry was lying, and now was one of those times. She needed to get to the bottom of this. 

 

“Barry, wanna go upstairs?” Iris asked, and Barry nodded, before leading her to his room. 

 

Joe looked over at Nora and Henry. “I know the kid’s not into women, but I still feel like something bad’s going to happen whenever they go up there,” Joe said, and Henry laughed. 

 

“I’m sure his boyfriend would not be happy with that,” he said, and Joe chuckled. 

 

“Iris does /not like that Zoloman kid, that’s for sure,” he said, and Nora nodded. 

 

“I don’t either, but he makes Barry happy, and that’s all that matters to me,” she said, and the conversation moved on to a new subject after that. 

 

\-----

 

“What’s wrong?” Iris asked as soon as they were in Barry’s room. Barry looked up at her. 

 

“Nothing, everything’s fine,” he quickly said, and Iris glared at him in response. 

 

“Barry…” she said menacingly. Barry ducked his head. 

 

“It’s about Hunter…” he mumbled, and Iris sighed. 

 

“Barry, you really need to dump his ass,” Iris said, sitting on his bed. Barry shook his head. 

 

“It’s not really about Hunter. Oliver Queen, he’s being really friendly with me lately, and Hunter doesn’t like it at all,” he said, defending Hunter. 

 

“Oliver /Queen?” Iris asked in disbelief, and Barry nodded. 

 

“Yeah, and Hunter has been sending his friends after me whenever he catches me with Oliver. And, I’m not sure who, but I think it was Caitlin who told him what kind of boyfriend Hunter is…” Barry trailed off, not really knowing what else to say. Iris was one of the only people who knew /everything about Barry’s relationship. She’s tried breaking them up many times, but it never worked out, and Barry always got the backlash of that. 

 

Iris looked at him sadly as she rubbed his back gently, stopping when Barry let out a soft hiss.

Iris’s brows furrowed. She looked at Barry who simply looked away, she lifted his shirt gently and gasped at what she saw. Dark bruises littered Barry’s body, even a few small cuts around his upper back.

 

“Barry-”

 

“Don’t, Iris...please… I know what you’re gonna say. This has gotten bad, I need to tell someone. Well I can’t!” He said turning to face her sharply, only to cover his mouth to try and muffle a cry of pain.

After a moment of silence as Barry breathed out, trying to shake away the pain, he spoke “I can’t...Iris… I… If he does this to me when he loves me? What do you think he’d do if he got angry? Besides… It’s not only me that could be in trouble. Cisco, Caitlin… Oliver, all of my friends could get hurt simply because I can’t just suck it up and take a punch.” He said as he laid back, his body violently protesting to any movement. 

 

Iris frowned and faced him with gently fierce eyes “Barry, this isn’t just a punch. He is seriously hurting you. You’ve been hospitalized how many times because of him? Barry, you need to do something, because if you don’t, I will. I’m not just gonna stand by while this happens.” 

 

Barry’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest, but Iris cut him off before he could “No, Barry. This has gone to far. I’ve stood by while your ‘loving boyfriend’ has belittled you to the point where you barely know what ‘self esteem’ is. While he has beaten you and nearly killed you. No, I’m done. I love you Barry, but you can’t just let this happen. Do something, or I will. I’m sorry Barry, but I can’t let you do this to yourself anymore.”

 

Barry’s eyes widened in fear but before anything else could be said, Joe called Iris down.

 

“I mean it, Barry. Please. I can’t stand to see you like this anymore. Please, for your sake, end it with him. He can’t hurt you if you tell an adult. Do something, please.” Was the last thing she said before leaving his room.

 

Barry watched her leave and leaned his head back against his pillow. Oh god… What was he supposed to do now?

 

He closed his eyes tightly and tried to go to sleep. He’d worry about this tomorrow. His body needed rest, dealing with Hunter wasn’t easy and his body really did need a rest. He’d just stay out for the rest of the week, it was wednesday, besides, he could make up the work easily. It would be dealing with Hunter afterwards that would be hell, but for now, he didn’t care. He fell into a dreamless sleep, hopefully he could rest and heal up enough to be able to function correctly.


	8. Chapter 8

Oliver began to get worried when Barry hadn’t returned to school the next day, or the rest of the week. It was friday and Oliver wasn’t sure what happened. Although he had noticed that Barry’s so called ‘boyfriend’ didn’t seem to care that his boyfriend was missing.

Of course, Oliver knew better than to outright question Hunter. He wasn’t scared, he could take on Hunter if he needed, but it would only make things worse for Barry if he did, so instead, he did a little...digging, where he could. He’d listen in when Hunter and his goons were around him, seeing if the man would mention anything about Barry. He did, but it only made him angrier as he listened.

He stood in the shower in the men’s locker room, Hunter didn’t seem to realize he was in there as he spoke as if no one was listening.

“That little shit is in so much shit when he gets back from his personal fucking vacation.” Hunter snarled. Oliver slightly peaked out of the shower, but not enough to be seen, only enough to where he could see them but they couldn’t see him.

“Why do you even waste your time with him? He’s pathetic and honestly, you can do better.” Another one of his friends spoke up, it was Mick.

“Because, you idiot, Who else is gonna do my fucking homework? You? You barely get past putting your name on the paper. Plus, he’s cute and has a nice ass.” 

Oliver felt a growl emerging from his throat but he kept quiet and continued to listen.

“You know where he is right now? Cause today was supposed to be the day your project was due and brain boy isn’t here.” Harry said as he casually leaned against the wall.

“He’s at home. I believe the excuse he used was ‘I just wasn’t feeling good.’ “ Hunter said, doing a very crude mimic of Barry’s voice, making it sound as whiny as possible. The others laughed before Hunter continued “Trust me, he’s not gonna be feeling good for a while if I get a fucking zero because of him. You’d figure he’d fucking learn by now but he’s so stupid I’d guess he fucking loves being smacked around.” He said before laughing along with his friends.

Oliver tried, he really did but he was straight up seeing red in his eyes. He turned the shower off and dried his hair. He still had on his basketball shorts but no shirt. He stepped out of the shower, gaining the attention of the three men. 

“The only stupid one I can see here is you.” Oliver snarled as he glared at Hunter who eventually got out of his surprise at seeing Oliver and smirked back. 

“Well well well, if it isn’t Mr.Queen. Greetings, your majesty.” Hunter said dramatically as he took a bow earning a laugh from the other two men.

Oliver glared harder at him. “This is gonna be your first and only warning, you lay another fucking finger in Barry Allen and you won’t be able to tell your face from a fucking hole in the ground.” Oliver growled. The humor left Hunter’s face and was replaced by anger and something darker but Oliver couldn’t make out what it was.

“Listen here, Queen, Barry is mine, and I can do whatever the hell I want to him, if he didn’t like it, he would have left by now. But he hasn’t, so how about you back off. If I so much as see you  _ breathe _ near Barry again, you’re both in for it. Understood?” He growled as he now stood chest to chest with the other. Oliver glared at him and was going to say something until one of the coaches stepped into the locker room.

“Hey! Do we have a problem here? I will get security if I have to!” Coach Eiling said as he stared at the group of men.

Hunter glared strongly at Oliver “I don’t know, do we have a problem?” He asked as he stared at Oliver.

Oliver wanted to punch him in his smug little face, but he couldn’t protect Barry if he got suspended. “Not yet.” He said darkly as he backed away from Hunter and turned to walk out the locker room. It was fourth period and time to head home anyways. He grabbed his things and went to leave the gym when he saw Caitlin and Cisco talking. He normally would have just went home without talking to them, he barely knew them aside from the fact that they were Barry’s friends, but Oliver needed some questions answered. He walked over to them and whatever they were talking about, they stopped.

“Oh um...hey Oliver?” Cisco greeted, though it was more of an inquisitive notion, wondering why one of the most richest and popular people in school were talking to them.

“Hey, Look, I know I don’t really talk to you much but I need to talk to Barry, can you please tell me where he lives?” He asked exasperated.

Caitlin frowned “Oliver… I know your intentions are good but… that will definitely be putting Barry in Hunter’s spotlight,”

“Yeah well I might have already done that on accident and I really need to talk to Barry,” Oliver said quickly. 

“Oliver...What did you do?” Cisco asked slowly.

Oliver shrugged. “I may have overheard his little boyfriend and his clique talking about Barry, and I may have spoken my thoughts to them,” he said nonchalantly. 

Caitlin’s eyes widened. “Oliver! Do you have  _ any  _ idea what Hunter will do to Barry when he gets back?” She asked frantically. 

Oliver nodded. “Yeah, that’s what they were talking about. But don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to Barry, and it would be a lot easier if you told me where he lives,” he said, stressing out the last five words of the sentence. 

Caitlin and Cisco looked at eachother, and Cisco shrugged. 

“Fine,” Cisco said, before rattling off Barry’s address. Oliver wrote it down on his phone, and thanked the duo before heading off. 

Barry didn’t live too far from Oliver, as a matter of fact he lived right between Oliver’s house and the school they went to. 

Oliver walked up to the front door, and waited about a minute before working up the courage to knock on the door. 

_ Just do it, it’s for his own safety, _ a voice told Oliver. 

_ But how would you explain how you got his address? And why are you nervous, it’s not like you’re asking him out, _ another voice added. 

Oliver took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. He waited, and waited, when suddenly, a young woman opened the door. Oliver assumed it was Barry’s mom. 

“Hi, is… is Barry here? One of my teachers asked me to help catch Barry up on what he missed,” Oliver lied, hoping it would work. He hated how pathetic he sounded, but at least Barry’s mom seemed to trust him with that.

“Yeah, he’s upstairs in his room,” she said, widening the door to let Oliver in. 

“Barry! You have a guest!” Mrs. Allen called out, looking up the stairs. About two minutes later, Barry came down the stairs. Oliver gave him a sheepish smile, while Barry just stared at Oliver in shock. Why…  _ how... _  what was Oliver doing here?

Barry suddenly realised that both Oliver and his mom was staring at him, and quickly smiled. “H-hey, Oliver, what are you doing here?” He asked, trying to be brave. He kind of left Oliver abruptly, and he was afraid Oliver was going to turn on him, and beat him up. But why would he come to his house to do it?

“Mr. Chrye wanted me to stop by your house and catch you up on what we’re doing, since it’s a little harder now and he doesn’t want you falling behind,” he said, and Barry saw right through that lie. As far as he knew, Oliver didn’t even  _ have _ Mr. Chyre. And he was passing Chyre’s class with ease, so clearly Oliver wanted something else. 

“A-alright, do you want to come up to my room for privacy? T-to review, not to do anything else, of course not, you’re straight and I - I have a boyfriend, and -”

“Barry,” Oliver cut off with a smile, and Nora smiled. Normally people would get super judgy about her son’s rambling, she was glad this young man wasn’t. 

“Barry, I get it. Yes, we can go up to your room,” he said, smiling, and Barry blushed. 

_ Stop blushing, he’s not your boyfriend, _ Barry thought, but he pushed the thought away as Oliver began walking up the stairs. Barry turned around, and started to lead Oliver up to his room.  Once they were there, Oliver could easily see the other’s tense posture

“Barry… I...You… I want you to break up with Hunter.” He said bluntly.

Barry frowned and backed up slightly just so he had a comfortable amount of space. “Oliver that’s not really your place to-”

“I overheard him and a few of his friends in the locker room. He was talking down about you and talking about how he was gonna beat the shit out of you when you came back to school,” He began and felt his heart sink at how pale Barry got just then. 

They were silent before Barry spoke up “You didn’t...say..anything, did you?” His voice had a hint of barely hidden fear and Oliver felt so bad.

“Yeah, I told him to back off but-”

“You what?!” Barry said in a hushed and panicked voice. He began to pace alongside the bed, grabbing his head and muttering things along the lines of  ‘Oh shit, maybe if I give him a blowjob it won’t be as bad… maybe I can drop out of school, yeah, that works…’

Oliver frowned and walked over and gently grabbed Barry’s arm causing the other to look up at him panicked. His face mirrored the expression of a deer in headlights. “Barry… You can’t let him do this to you. Come monday, you and I are going to go talk to hunter and then we’re talking to the principle about what he’s been doing.” He said before pulling Barry into a gentle hug “I promise I won’t let him hurt you, ok? Please just trust me on this.” He whispered.

Barry was frozen before the other’s hug began to calm him down. Once his breathing was under control, he gripped Oliver in a tight hug as he practically fed off the comfort the other was giving him.  

“Ok…” He said softly. He couldn’t believe it. He was finally going to end it with Hunter. He’d finally be free.

Before he realized he was doing it, he leaned back and stared into Oliver’s eyes. They looked at each other with such love and adoration. Slowly, their eyes traveled to the other’s lips. They leaned in and kissed and for once Barry actually felt love in a kiss rather than lust or a show of ownership. This was a kiss that meant so much more than love.

It meant that Barry was safe and could finally be happy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Im so so so so sorry that this is so frickin short. I tried and i hope this is good for you guys! Heads up! ATTEMPTED RAPE DO NOT READ IF IT WILL TRIGGER YOU PLEASE

They had kissed.

Barry didn’t know how to feel about that. The kiss was great! But he just didn’t know how to handle that… he’d never been kissed like that before. Not only that, but he was also still in a relationship with Hunter. Wasn’t that cheating? Maybe...Maybe it wouldn’t count if he hadn’t liked it…. But he did like it. It was breathtaking and Barry hadn’t wanted it to end. It was the first time he’d felt what a real kiss was supposed to be like. Whenever Hunter kissed him, it was always so...rough, and possessive. He remembered when they were making out one time and Hunter had gotten carried away and bruised his lip from biting it. It hurt but Barry hadn’t said anything because he knew he’d have much more to worry about than a busted lip if he said anything. Especially during moments like that. During moments of… extreme feelings, seeing as he couldn’t exactly call it love, he was expected to sit there and give in, to be as submissive as possible.

He could still feel Oliver’s gentle lips upon his own and he would have fully given into the memory, had he not been standing beside Hunter in the lunch line. It was half way through the day and he’d yet to end things with Hunter. He also knew that he had a punishment coming, He wasn’t getting out of what Oliver had said to Hunter, no, he was gonna pay for that…

He was brought from his thoughts when Hunter ‘gently’ nudged him forwards. Barry stumbled slightly and almost fell but managed to maintain his balance and keep walking. He got up to the lunch lady and paid for their meals and began to head over to sit at Hunter’s table. As they waked, Barry caught a glimpse of Oliver staring at him from his lunch table with Caitlin and Cisco.

Barry frowned softly and looked away before Hunter caught him and set his tray down on the table. Normally, he could sit through lunch without being tempted by the food because Cisco and Caitlin always threw in together to get him a meal that he could eat when he wasn’t around Hunter but he hadn’t been eating much lately due to being upset. The whole ordeal with the stress of breaking up with Hunter was getting to him.

He sat beside Hunter at the table and watched as Hunter took the food he wanted from Barry’s tray and began to eat it. He would have sighed sadly if it wouldn’t end up with him getting backhanded. Of course it wouldn’t happen in front of other people, not when teachers were in the room anyways. He caught himself staring over at Oliver who was staring back as he silently at his lunch.

He wasn’t paying attention and had to hold back a yelp when Hunter’s foot came down hard on his own.  
Barry peaked up to see Hunter looking pissed. More pissed than normal and that terrified the absolute shit out of Barry.  
Barry tried not to shake as he stared back down at the ground. He was really in for it.  
Time went by way too quickly and soon lunch was over. They had a free period today so they practically had the rest of the day off.  
Barry placed their trays on the counter for the lunch ladies to clean before heading back over to Hunter, intentionally not looking up at Oliver, he was already in enough trouble, and with Hunter staring right at him, he may love Oliver but he did not have a death wish.

Not yet anyways…

He made his way back over to Hunter and flinched slightly when Hunter grabbed his wrist and began to lead him from the lunch room.  
Barry was shaking slightly and his heart felt as if it was beating way too fast.  
He waited until the got where they were headed which turned out to be the guys locker room. Barry watched as Hunter locked the door and turned way too calmly to face Barry.

Barry almost forgot how to breathe when Hunter began to walk over to him. He was so close to breaking down into a panic attack when Hunter placed a surprisingly gentle hand on his cheek. He risked a glance up to see Hunter staring at him. His eyes were full of barely concealed anger and Barry couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine or tha shaky breath that he let out.  
“H-Hunter..? I…” 

“You kissed him.”

Barry paled and looked at Hunter. How did he…?

Hunter saw the others obvious fear and confusion and scoffed angrily.  
“You really are fucking stupid, you know that?” He snarled as his hand reared back and flew back, backhanding the younger man.

Barry was caught off guard by the attack and fell back, slamming into the lockers before sliding onto the ground.

“You honestly thought I wouldn’t have someone looking out for me? Think I wouldn’t send someone to check on you when you took your little personal fucking vacation last week? Don’t think they wouldn’t have seen Oliver Queen walk in your house and watch you fucking kiss him?” Hunter ranted as he towered over Barry as he shook like a leaf on the ground.  
“You fucking slut!” He yelled in outrage as he reached down and grabbed Barry by his hair and yanked him upwards. 

Crying out in pain, Barry reached up and grabbed Hunter’s wrist.   
“Hunter please! Stop that hurts!” Barry pleaded as he tried to free himself from Hunter.

The stronger man snarled and pulled Barry to his feet by his hair. He kept the smaller of the two pinned to the wall. “I’ll let you go, if you can explain to me just what exactly you thought you were doing kissing him? Go on, explain you fucking slut!” He yelled and shook Barry.

Barry was unable to hold back his sobs “Hunter stop! Please-”

Another loud slap was heard in the room by no others except the room’s two inhabitants. “Explain.” Hunter growled out.

Barry couldn’t help as he cried and his body shook. He was absolutely fucking terrified, he could barely stand on his own he was shaking so badly “I-It’s b-because yo-ou keep doing thi-this!” He sobbed. His fear was kicking out his anger and so he couldn’t hold back what he was saying. “I l-loved you!” He sobbed as he held onto the other’s wrist which was still gripping his hair painfully. “I put u-up with so m-mu-uch because I l-loved you! B-But th-this isn’t l-love! Y-You’re cont-controlling and evil!” He hissed out and began to fight Hunter more, trying to free himself “I d-did it because I-I love Oliver! I d-don’t want th-this!” He cried and kicked out but his words had only pissed Hunter off to no end.

“You want him now, huh?” He said in a voice that was so calm… too calm.

Barry stared back at Hunter, shaking as tears trailed down his cheeks.

Hunter stared back before chuckling and throwing Barry onto the floor. Barry quickly tried to scramble away but Hunter was on him in seconds.  
“You don’t love me anymore? That’s fine, it’s been a while since I liked you, but remember something, Barry. The only reason you haven’t been beaten to a fucking pulp was because of me. And you wanna know something else?” He hissed darkly as he had Barry pinned on the ground.  
“You don’t really have a choice. You’re mine.” He whispered darkly and grabbed Barry’s wrists in one hand. His other hand moved down and he began to unbutton Barry’s pants. It took him a moment to realize what was happening and he began to struggle more “No! HElP! SOMEONE HEL-MMMPH!” He screamed as something was shoved into his mouth to muffle his pleas for help.

“You’re mine, Barry. And it’s time you realized that too.” Hunter cooed as he moved to pull Barry’s pants down.

Barry reacted immediately and tried to kick the other away and off of him “Nhm!” He tried to yell as he struggled against Hunter. Unfortunately, Hunter was a lot stronger than Barry and managed to keep him pinned. Barry’s sobs began to make it hard for him to breathe, the gag in his mouth really wasn’t helping either.

Through the muffled screams and cries, neither men heard the door being busted open until it was too late.

What happened next was a blur to the man lying on the ground, all he could process is that Hunter was no longer on him and his clothes were still in tact, he used this time to take the gag from his mouth and quickly pull his pants back up. He curled in a ball, still a sobbing mess as he looked around to try and see what had happened. He managed to see who had busted in.

Oliver.

Oliver stood with his hands wrapped around Hunter’s neck, a wild, angry look in his eyes as he throttled Barry’s attacker.

As much as Barry hated to admit the contempt he felt as he watched Hunter get strangled, he knew he had to stop Oliver before the man did something he regretted.   
“O-Oli-v-ver…. S-Stop….” He spoke weakly, but his words hadn’t seemed to reach Oliver. Hunter, while at first was wildly struggling against the other, was now struggling to stay conscious.  
Barry tried again, he had to. Or Oliver really would kill Hunter. “Oliver..St-op!” He said louder.   
It took a moment, but Oliver eventually turned to look at Barry’s pleading face. Another moment passed and Oliver growled before throwing the man in his grasp to the ground and rushing over to Barry.

While Hunter gripped his throat and coughed violently, Oliver held Barry in his arms. Barry clasped desperately to him and sobbed. “I-I’m s-sorr-”

“No, Barry, You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s okay… I’ve got you now.” He said gently. Barry peaked up at him, his eyes red and swollen from crying. “He wa...w-was gonna…” He started crying again. God how did he let it get this bad? How had he been so weak to not see that Hunter would be and was capable of doing something like this? When did he become so blind? This was worse than a bully, bullies shoved him in lockers, shoved his head in toilets and took his lunch or lunch money and even his homework at times, and yeah, they hit him a lot and verbally abused him, but they never hurt him as much as Hunter had, and they never attempted to rape him. 

He turned his gaze to Hunter who was beginning to gain his bearings. For a moment, Oliver tensed and was ready to jump at a moments notice to protect Barry, but the younger laid a soft hand on Oliver’s shoulder and began to stand.

His legs were shaky and his eyes were blurry. He walked over to Hunter as the man finally stood to his full height. Just as the man opened his mouth to speak, Barry lashed out and punched the man right in his jaw, sending the man sprawling back against the wall, his eyes were wide in surprise at Barry before narrowing in anger. Barry didn’t give him any time to say or act because he then began to angrily kick out at Hunter, kicking him as hard as he could, he didn’t care if he got suspended or hell, even arrested. He’d been waiting for this moment and it was fucking amazing. The rush of blood through his body as he finally took out all his anger and fear on the man who caused both emotions. It took Oliver gently wrapping his arms around the younger and pulling him away for Barry to finally stop, he hadn’t realized he’d been crying and screaming at the man as he assaulted him, causing a few teachers and the coaches to come in and ask what was going on. 

After an hour or so of both parties explaining what had happened, and Barry explaining what had been happening, and the cops being called along with Barry’s parents, did it seem that Barry’s nightmare had finally ended as Hunter was placed in cuffs and guided to the back of a police car, yelling angrily as he done so.

His parents were freaking out, the teachers were still asking questions and trying to say that Barry needed counseling and his parents agreeing, Barry was barely able to get a word in. He didn’t care though, Oliver was holding him as they sat in the office of the school, he was exhausted and he was dozing off in Oliver’s embrace. It wasn’t helping that Oliver was running his fingers through his hair, making him relax and fall asleep even faster. And even through the chaos around him and going through his head, he fell into a peaceful sleep, he could deal with all of this tomorrow. He needed sleep.

Oliver smiled as Barry fell asleep in his arms. He looked up at Barry’s parents. “I’m sorry I couldn’t-”   
Barry’s father cut him off by setting his hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “Don’t ,son, if it hadn’t been for you, who knows what could have happened to Barry. Thank you.” He said smiling brightly. Oliver nodded and helped take Barry to his parents car. Setting him in the backseat and buckling him in, he placed a soft kiss to the other’s forehead before backing up and shutting the door, watching the car as it drove away.

 

Despite the tereible events that had just conspired, he was strangely happy because now? Now Barry was finally safe.


	10. Chapter 10

Oliver watched Barry carefully from his spot at the table with Cisco and Caitlin. Ever since he had kissed Barry, he couldn’t help but watch him, trying to think of how he would react, that day when they had kissed, Barry had noticeably relaxed and even let Oliver hold him and help him fall asleep. But now, when he finally made eye contact with Barry, the boy shrunk his head and turned away to look at the ground until he sat with Hunter at his table. He watched Hunter take his food and watched as Barry sat there and didn’t move. He hated it. Hunter had him acting like a damned trained dog, following him blindly and sitting when he was told to and speaking when told to do so. It was degrading and made Oliver’s blood boil, but he couldn’t do anything. Not yet, Barry had said he would deal with Hunter, and Oliver would respect his decision and stay out of it, but it still made him feel uneasy, if Hunter did these things to him when he ‘loved’ Barry, who knew what would happen when he got angry? He made eye contact with Barry once more, however, something had happened because Barry flinched and turned to face Hunter, Oliver glanced towards the other to see nothing but rage on the others face.

_Touch him you bastard and I’ll fucking end you._

Oliver recoiled at that thought, yes he was protective of Barry but even he knew that, that mental comment was a bit much, still, he watched Hunter, almost daring him to lay a hand on Barry.

When the man made no other move on Barry, Oliver returned to his lunch tray, he saw Cisco and Caitlin gathering food from their trays and placing it into a small container. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what they were doing. Thankfully, Caitlin explained. “Hunter won’t let Barry eat, and so we usually gather the stuff that we know Barry likes and give it to him after lunch.” She explained and that just warmed Oliver’s heart to know that Barry had such amazing friends. Too bad none of them, including Oliver, were able to save Barry from this hell of a relationship.

He frowned when the lunch bell rang and they were all allowed to go home, something about some free period thing. However, he had a bad gut feeling when Barry walked with Hunter towards the Gym. Oliver turned to see a look of dread shared on the other two’s faces. Oliver gave them a small look before turning his attention back to the direction that Barry and Hunter disappeared. “Hey uh… I’ll be right back guys.” Oliver said before dumping his tray and setting it on the counter before following the two men. Making sure to put enough distance between them and him to make sure Hunter wouldn’t catch on that they were being followed. He watched them disappear into the locker room and would have followed them further, however, Someone grabbed his shoulder and spun them both, pinning the other against the wall. Oliver glared to see who _dared_ to mess with him right now.

Harry.

“Well well well, if it isn’t _Mr.Queen_ .” The other male smirked as he kept the other pinned against the wall. Oliver glared darkly at the man “I really think it’s in your best interest you let me go _now._ ” Oliver growled and his tense body shook with anger and need, need to make sure Barry was safe.

Harry laughed smugly and shook his head “Nah, Don’t think I will, see, Hunter and Barry need a little time to themselves, got some problems they need to solve.  Problems you caused.” He said as he backed up when Oliver shoved him off of him.

Oliver was going to punch this smug little shit, but he wanted to know what he meant.

“Huh, you really aren’t the brightest huh? Brings a whole new meaning to stupid rich.” He rolled his eyes “See, Hunter found out about yours and the sluts’ little ‘smooch fest’. And he isn’t very happy right now.”

Before Oliver could respond, he heard Barry start to scream and yell, he also heard Hunter yelling back but he couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. And he didn’t care, as far as he was concerned, he just needed to get to Barry. Now.

He tried to run past Hunter but the other man once again blocked his path “Ah ah ah, I don’t think so.” He cooed and threw a punch at Oliver who barely dodged it. He was honestly beyond pissed right now and barely holding his anger back. He was done with words, if this man wanted to fight, so be it.

He ran at the other man and lifted him up, running and slamming him into the wall, Harry tried to punch back, landing quite a few blows, but Oliver was so angry, he could barely feel the pain, he landed one blow to the side of Harry's head, knocking the man out cold. He then ran to the door only to find it locked. “Barry!” He shouted, but all he could hear was hushed whispers and muffled cries. Oliver tried the handle again before trying to punch it open, finally, he paced backwards before throwing his body against the door a few times. Eventually, the door budged and he saw red. He saw Hunter on top of Barry, pinning him down as he tried to pull the younger’s pants down. He let out a yell of outrage and ran at Hunter, practically dragging the attacker off of Barry, he hadn’t realized it in his anger, but he had his hands wrapped around Hunter’s throat, squeezing and he ground his teeth and glared at the choking man before him, all his anger fueling his strength, and if it hadn’t been for Barry calling to him, he may have broken Hunter’s neck. Snarling once more at Hunter, he threw the man aside and ran to Barry who had managed to pull his pants back up. There was an angry red mark across Barry’s face and tear streaks down his face, making the skin even redder and blotchy.

“Barry, shh, it’s okay.” He spoke softly as he cradled the other in his arms. Barry seemed to have calmed down mostly but that could also just be from shock. The boy in his arms was unbelievably pale, minus the red hand print. His breathing was shaky but there and strong so that was a good sign. He wasn’t seeming to hear anything he said. Oliver watched as teachers came in. It was Dr.Wells, Ms.Lance and Mr. Myers. Mr Myers and Ms. Lance were the gym teachers.

“What happened in here?” One of the teachers, Dr. Wells,  asked as he looked at the students.

Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but Oliver beat him to it.

“Hunter attacked and tried to rape Barry.” He explained, still holding some anger in his voice.

The three teachers in the room looked appalled and turned to look at both Barry and Hunter.

“Zolomon, is this true?” Mr.Myers demanded.

“No! I was in here making out with Barry when that psycho attacked me! Look!” He defended and pointed to the red marks around his neck.

The teachers turned back to speak but once again, Oliver spoke first “I got you off of him! You were going to _rape_ him if I hadn’t!” He yelled back.

Ms. Lance finally spoke up “Barry? What happened?” She asked figuring Barry would be best to answer, unfortunately, the poor boy seemed quite out of it, and the red mark stills stood out on his pale skin.

She turned to Hunter “You, stay right there. Dr.Wells, can you please call the police, Oliver? Take Barry to the nurse’s room, I’ll be right with you.” She promised and Oliver nodded, standing up and gently lifting Barry, the kid was so damn light and skinny it wasn’t even close to being funny. He heard Hunter shouting obscenities but that wasn’t his problem at the moment, his job right now was to make sure Barry was safe and that included him taking Barry far away from the abusive fuck.

Barry was checked over by the nurse who said he would be fine and to apply ice to the red handprint on Barry’s face that had already begun to bruise. Oliver nodded in understanding and moved to  then take Barry to the office to wait for his parents to get here. Ms.Lance had called them and explained what had happened. Oliver didn’t know Barry’s parents very well but they seemed like nice people, hopefully they wouldn’t push Barry to talk about anything that had happened until Barry was ready. They arrived and took Barry from him. But Oliver could only feel peace at knowing that Barry would be safe now. He couldn’t help the smirk on his face as he watched Hunter be placed into the back of a police car. That sick bastard would never touch Barry again.

____________________________________________________________________________

Nora and Henry Allen couldn’t express the worry and guilt they felt right now as they drove towards their home with their baby boy in the back, laying down and sleeping peacefully. How had they let this happen? They had let Hunter, a boy they had honestly thought as good and nice, hurt and abuse their boy. They felt so guilty.

“I can’t believe that Hunter would do this…” Nora spoke softly as she glanced back at Barry who had stirred slightly in his sleep.

Henry Allen, who was usually a very level headed man, was broiling with hidden anger. Not at Barry, but at Hunter and himself. He should have noticed this. He was a doctor for crying out loud! What kind of Doctor couldn’t notice how much weight Barry had lost? How tired he seemed to be and the hidden bruises and flinches whenever he went to hug Barry. He should have done something. He should have been there…

“Hunter is a sick boy and hopefully he gets the help he needs, right now, Barry needs us. So let’s just try to stay strong for him.” He replied calmly and leaned over to kiss his wife as they pulled into the driveway and parked the car. “I’ll get Barry, you go on in.” He said softly and kissed Nora once more on the forehead before unbuckling his seatbelt and got out of the car. He went around the side to Barry’s door and gently opened it to make sure Barry wouldn’t fall out. He unbuckled the younger and gently picked him up bridal style and held his son close to his chest. He looked down at his son’s pale yet innocent face. He smiled sadly and made his way up the steps of their house and through the front door. He heard Nora shut the door behind him as he continued to walk, carrying Barry upstairs to his room. Barry should have been heavy, but because of how much weight the kid lost, it was just like carrying him to his room when he was eight and had fallen asleep in the car. It put a painful emphasis on just how much innocence Barry still had, how young he was and how much he needed to be protected.

He got to Barry’s room and laid Barry gently on the bed, reaching down to pull the blanket up over Barry and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. “Sleep tight slugger…” He said softly, smiling gently at the small twitch of a smile that formed on Barry’s sleeping face at hearing it’s father’s nickname. It took Henry a moment to get enough willpower to pry himself away from Barry and leave his room. Things would be different. He wouldn’t let Barry get hurt like this ever again. He would swear that.

Caitlin and Cisco were concerned… no, they were _scared_ when Barry wasn’t in school for the rest of the day. They haven’t seen him since lunch, when he was going to the gym with Hunter.

“Maybe Oliver knows what’s going on,” Cisco whispered to Caitlin during one of the classes they shared with Barry.

Caitlin looked at Barry’s empty seat. It didn’t occur to her until then that the teacher didn’t say anything about Barry’s absence, which was weird considering how much said teacher loved Barry.

“Maybe…” she whispered back, eyes not moving from Barry’s seat. Cisco pulled out his phone and texted Oliver, asking if he knew where Barry was.

Meanwhile, Oliver was skipping class to go see if the Allen’s wanted any help with Barry, or if Barry needed any emotional support from someone who knew what was going on before. He was almost there when his phone buzzed, indicating he just got a new text.

_From: Cisco Ramon: Hey man, do you know where Barry is? He’s not in class, and I haven’t seen him since after lunch ended. I’m kind of worried._

Oliver read the text again, not sure what to say. Cisco deserved to know, he was Barry’s best friend, but what if Barry didn’t want him to know?

Oliver pocketed his phone, deciding to answer later as he arrived to the Allen household. He walked up to the front door, but he didn’t knock on the door. Was this the right thing to do? What if Barry’s parents wanted to be alone with their son?

 _Fuck it,_ Oliver thought, and he knocked on the door.


	11. Author’s Update

Okay! So, sorry to those who are waiting for the next chapter for any of my works, school is out and so I currently don’t have a laptop making it hard to write my chapters, i ask that you please stay patient, I’m sorry for the wait, I really am, and I promose to get the next chapter up as soon as I can!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very short, final Chapter. Sorry it took me so long to write guys! this story kind of got the back burner while I focused on other things but I hope this is ok!

Barry sat on his bed, knees drawn to his chest as he stared out his window. He'd woken up on his bed, he figured his dad carried him up here since he fell asleep in the car. He had just been so exhausted and with what had almost happened with Hunter had just been so fucking emotionally draining, he passed out, probably due to the stress alone.

He hadn’t bothered to get up. He wasn’t really hungry or anything anyways so not much reason to get up.

 

His dad had come in to check up on him about an hour after he’d woken up but that was it, which he was thankful for. He really just wanted to be alone.

 

As he sat their, thinking, his mind wandered to Oliver. He hoped he was alright and that Hunter hadn’t hurt him. God if Hunter had hurt him… he… he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. He loved Oliver. It scared him to admit it. But he did. Oliver had literally saved his life. 

He remembered when Oliver kissed him. How his panicked breaths ceased as soon as Oliver’s lips touched his. How an immediate wave of calm had crashed into him, followed by pure love and warmth. It was the most amazing thing he’d ever experiences and his heart warmed at the very thought of the memory.

 

He was replaying the memory in his head when a soft knock at his door was heard. He figured it was his mom or dad so he just mumbled a soft “Come in.” and waited as he heard the door click and creak as it opened before closing just as softly.

 

“Barry?” 

 

Barry’s eyes widened and he turned around so fast he felt like he gave himself whiplash.

“Oliver…” He breathed out softly. There was a moment of silence between them, it probably only lasted a few seconds, but to Barry, time slowed down and he just stared at Oliver, the corners of his lips twitching into a smile and his eyes getting wet, and before Oliver could register what happened, Barry had flung himself onto the blonde male and had his arms and legs wrapped around him needily. Oliver quickly got over his shock and held onto Barry as the other sobbed softly.

 

He moved and sat the younger onto the bed and sat beside him, gently wiping away the brunettes tears. “Barry? Barry, what’s wrong?” He asked softly.

 

Barry sniffed pitifully and wiped his eyes “Nothing It’s just… Thank you…” He sobbed softly, smiling at Oliver. “And I’m not just thanking you for what you did with Hunter, but for showing me what love is supposed to be.” He blushed softly at his statement, but he meant it. Before, love was painful and downright frightening, But Oliver showed him it can be soft, kind, and warm. Something he hadn’t really experienced, love from parents and friends were one thing, love from your significant other was another, and to have that love sitting right in front of him meant so much to him.

 

Oliver smiled gently and tilted Barry’s chin up with his hands “Ove course, Barry. I would never let you stay in that situation.” He spoke as he hesitantly leaned in, it wasn’t until Barry leaned in, that he continued to lean forwards and soon, their lips connected once more and color burst through Barry’s mind and he found himself craving more. They sat like that, arms entangled and lips locked, for a while before they pulled apart.

 

“I love you,” Oliver said softly. Barry smiled and locked eyes with him before kissing him softly one more time.

 

“I love you too.”


End file.
